the Story - Dassault Systèmes

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION
© TanawatPontchour
CADMAKERS VIRTUAL
CONSTRUCTION
Challenge:
CadMakers Virtual Construction seeks to push the
envelope for Virtual Design & Construction in the
Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry
through computational practices, preconstruction
simulation and coordination; prefabrication of
multiple building systems and optimization of
assets through digitized building lifecycle
management.
Solution:
CadMakers uses the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on
the cloud, including the CATIA, DELMIA and
ENOVIA applications, to create and share an
integrated 3D building model.
Benefits:
With the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform,
CadMakers has gained superior visualization to help
identify conflicts in building systems design, while
enabling process simulation to shorten construction
timelines. CATIA’s user-defined features and
scripting allows CadMakers to apply manufacturing
efficiencies for construction processes.
SMARTER BUILDING
CadMakers Virtual Construction understands that the
construction of a building is a small percent of the total cost
of ownership, compared to maintenance of the structure.
The company thinks it’s just as important to efficiently plan
for maintenance as it is to build a structure, which is why
CadMakers takes a holistic view of the AEC process.
“People have thought that you can’t use manufacturing best
practices in AEC because everything is different in our industry,”
explained Javier Glatt, co-founder and CEO of CadMakers, a
service company built to streamline the AEC industry and has
executed 35 projects worth over US$3 billion in construction
value since early 2014. “But new technologies, such as
the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform, are enabling this industry to
automate processes and create a lot of value.”
CadMakers employs Dassault Systèmes’ cloud-based
3DEXPERIENCE platform to promote collaboration throughout
the AEC value chain and enable smarter building. CadMakers
uses the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to assist in three key
areas: identifying conflicts in building systems design before
construction begins; coordinating on-site sequencing during the
construction process, and ultimately, providing a detailed map
for maintenance services during the building’s lifecycle.
“Virtual design and construction is the idea of taking all of
the building systems — architectural, structural, mechanical,
electrical and plumbing — and map them virtually,” Glatt
explained. “That enables us to identify and resolve problems
in advance of live construction.”
“The future of the construction industry is to effectively
manufacture buildings as opposed to stick build on site,”
Glatt added. “Increasingly, building will be done in a factory
floor in a safer and climate-controlled environment only to be
assembled on site, similar to how the airplane manufacturing
industry has evolved.”
VIRTUALLY BUILD IN 3D
Opposed to the typical multi-page set of 2D drawings used by
construction project managers, CadMakers shows its clients
highly detailed, accurate 3D models early in the building
process, which increases efficiency.
“The difference between working in 3D and 2D is powerful,”
Glatt said. “Roughly 30% of the problems or risks we identify
in a given project result entirely from the fact that we’re able to
view the building and its systems in an integrated, 3D model.”
The difference becomes clear to CadMakers’ clients when
they get to share the 3D building model created with
the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. “The 2D architectural drawing
is one page, the structural drawing is another, and various
building systems are on subsequent pages,” said Ryan Yee,
project modeling designer, CadMakers. “But when we use the
CATIA application, the 3D building model is right in front of
you and that’s where the value is. You can be very clear: ‘here
are the ducts, here is the wall, here is the ceiling, and this is
why your duct is below the ceiling.’”
“The recent increase of project teams using Building
Information Modeling has created new silos, with an uneven
adoption of technology amongst teams, adding complexity
to traditional project procurement methods,” Glatt said.
“Integrated project delivery methods will become more
important to drive efficiencies on complex projects. In this
new world, prefabrication and manufacturing processes will
be critical to maximizing value to owners.”
“New technologies, such as
the 3DEXPERIENCE
platform, are enabling the
AEC industry to automate processes
and create a lot of value.”
— Javier Glatt, Co-founder and CEO, CadMakers
SHARING THE 3DEXPERIENCE
The freedom to share the 3D building model throughout
a project’s team is a key reason that CadMakers chose the
3DEXPERIENCE platform.
In work for UBC Properties Trust, who optimizes the University
of British Columbia’s land assets, CadMakers uses a 3D model
to serve in a quality assurance/quality control capacity. Glatt
says the project team at UBC likes to get everyone — the
project’s architect, engineers and various subcontractors — in
a room together to view the model and crowdsource solutions
to potential problems.
It doesn’t take long for everyone to drill down to their own
concerns. “An electrician had us zero-in on one area of the
model. ‘OK,’ he says, ‘how much clearance do I have to get
through this shaft? If there’s a duct there, how am I going to
get my conduit in there?’ We were solving those problems in
real time,” Glatt said.
The real value in such reviews, he adds, is combining the
hands-on expertise and experience of construction industry
veterans with the visualization provided by the 3DEXPERIENCE
model. A veteran electrician or plumber doesn’t need to learn
to manipulate the model, however. “We’ll do the heavy lifting,
but we need the construction veterans to be the brains behind
it all,” Glatt said.
“We ask him, ‘how close can we get these pipes together? What
about hangers? Flanges? Valves? How are you going to actually
install this and in what order?’ So we get that veteran expertise
and we’re capturing it to shape the model in real time.”
BENEFITS WITHOUT COMPLEXITY
With the DELMIA application, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform
enables users to move beyond a static model and show clients
how the building components will be assembled together.
“When you build the 3D model, you have all of the parts
and pieces there, every nut and bolt, but you may not think
through the complexity of construction,” Yee explained.
“Using DELMIA, you can see piece-by-piece, assembly-byassembly, the sequence and processes of construction.”
That has real benefits on a complex job site. It provides
informed decisions about when materials and assemblies are
delivered to the job site, and where they are placed on the site
in relation to the crane, as it can only pick up so many items
in a day. Using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to connect the
value chain through all of the suppliers and subcontractors,
the general contractor can optimize deliveries and minimize
bottlenecks on the job site.
“Where you put the crane is very important, as it dictates
process and flow,” Yee said. “With DELMIA, you can visualize
which tasks need to be prioritized, and which can be scheduled
in conjunction with others. That improves efficiency to shorten
the construction timeline.”
NEW INSIGHT SOLVES PROBLEMS OFF-SITE
Within the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the CATIA application
enables users to design piping, tubing and Heating Ventilation
and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems from concept through
detailed manufacturing. Moreover, users can build intelligence
regarding the new system into the 3D model.
“Let’s say you add an elbow to the HVAC system. That
changes the friction in the system, which in turn changes the
fan specs,” Yee explained. “In CATIA, when you add elbows
you can link them to the standards of your entire HVAC
model, and it will identify what fans or valves you’ll need
when you change the design.”
Top image: CATIA Fluid 3D Systems Designer
on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform enables
designers to view 18 floors of mechanical,
electrical and plumbing (MEP) elements at
fabrication level of detail (LOD) 400 on what
will be the world’s tallest wood building.
Bottom image: Architectural, structural and
MEP coordination of a complex project using
Industry Foundation Classes and the
3DEXPERIENCE platform.
Revenue: Privately held
Headquarters: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
For more information
www.cadmakers.com
A new piping interface and platform lets users place specific
elements in defined locations. Users select the equipment,
supports, hangers and more; then CATIA creates the route.
“You know the pipe is going from point A to point B, so why
should you do all the leg work to route it when the software
will do it for you — and probably do it better?” Yee asked.
The bottom line, he continues, is that CATIA enables users to
identify issues in a plumbing or HVAC design and resolve them
before the system gets to the worksite.
HOLDING ONTO THE KNOWLEDGE
Glatt believes the 3DEXPERIENCE platform has a definitive
competitive advantage: its data-driven, model-based
architecture delivered by ENOVIA applications seamlessly
connect business processes. This architecture, he argues,
enables users to leverage the 3D model in new ways. One
prime example is the long-term facility maintenance and
management that occurs long after architects, engineers and
construction crews leave the site.
The metadata behind a 3DEXPERIENCE model, Glatt
explains, includes every pump, filter and substructure in an
easily searchable form. It can even include warranties and
maintenance schedules for all of the building systems.
As a result, high quality building maintenance and operation
can be built into the project from the start, rather than relying
exclusively on the skills of a maintenance staff that learns a
building’s idiosyncrasies over time. Sooner or later, members
of that maintenance staff will retire, so their experience and
specific building knowledge will be lost; but content in the datadriven, model-based ENOVIA architecture will remain forever.
SOLVING COMPLEX PROBLEMS
WITH TECHNOLOGY
Combining their technological expertise with the
3DEXPERIENCE platform to power its virtual design and
construction business has been the crux of CadMaker’s success.
“We believe in solving problems using technology, and we
believe the 3DEXPERIENCE platform may be the most powerful
software available to our industry today,” Glatt said. “It’s an
excellent match for very large, complex projects. You don’t just
have an architectural model, or a single building system. You
have every mechanical, electrical and plumbing system right
in front of you.
“In the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, Dassault Systèmes has
created an amazing technical solution. It’s up to us to leverage
its capabilities to solve real problems on the front lines of
architecture, engineering and construction for our customers.”
Our 3DEXPERIENCE® platform powers our brand applications, serving 12 industries, and provides a
rich portfolio of industry solution experiences.
Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE® Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its
world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systèmes’ collaborative solutions foster social innovation,
expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 190,000 customers of all sizes in all industries in more than
140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com.
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©2016 Dassault Systèmes. All rights reserved. 3DEXPERIENCE®, the Compass icon and the 3DS logo, CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, ENOVIA, DELMIA, SIMULIA, GEOVIA, EXALEAD, 3D VIA, 3DSWYM, BIOVIA, NETVIBES, and 3DEXCITE are commercial trademarks or registered trademarks of
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Focus on CadMakers
CadMakers partners with leading architecture,
engineering and construction companies to provide a
range of virtual design and construction (VDC) services
to enable smarter building. Services include 3rd party
construction design and coordination review;
constructability analysis; virtual design and
construction implementation frameworks and protocols;
enablement of mechanical prefabrication; concrete
detailing packages; and shop drawing generation.
“When the project is turned over to operations and maintenance
staff, are they going to have the expertise and know-how to
manage new wastewater systems and complex mechanical
systems in a building?” Glatt asked rhetorically. “We
can design new technologies into buildings, but can
we operate them for the next 50 years? That’s where the
ENOVIA architecture of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform can be
extremely powerful.”